Toby Budd, chief executive and founder of ScaffFloat / WorkFloat, said: “Over the past three years we have worked hard to create a cost-effective, transportable work platform to overcome the issues with the current market offering.
“Our products are gaining traction across the UK and overseas and this funding will allow us to maximise the opportunities available to us, continuing to grow our business globally whilst maintaining our roots firmly in the South West.
“Having CIOSIF on board as an investor, with the added benefit of the FSE team’s corporate finance and governance experience, will be extremely beneficial in scaling and professionalising our operation.”
Ralph Singleton, head of funds Cornwall at The FSE Group, said: “Workfloat has a credible management team led by Toby whose experience in the marine sector, as well as in successfully building and exiting a portfolio of small businesses, places the business in a strong position for growth.
“The business is well-supported by credible private investors who understand the commercial marine space and the team continues to develop innovative, award-winning products to address a known gap in a niche market.”
ScaffFloat to create jobs after £200k investment
Floating scaffold pontoon manufacturer is looking to expand overseas after landing a £200,000 investment.
Cornish company ScaffFloat which also trades as WorkFloat is set to grow and create new jobs from the investment.
The Penryn-based firm manufactures self-propelled bespoke pontoons designed to integrate with scaffolding, and easily transportable workboats for use in commercial marine engineering.
The firm has secured a £140,000 equity investment from the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly Investment Fund (CIOSIF) as part of a £200,000 funding round, including match-funding from private investors, led by appointed CIOSIF fund manager The FSE Group.
The investment will be used to support the overall growth of the business, enabling further product development, increased marketing activity and expansion into overseas markets. The business is also set to create a number of new jobs within the company.
The marine platform market is currently dominated by a choice between heavy-duty, non-mobile products, or those offering mobility but that are less robust with limited capabilities.
WorkFloat says it has identified a market-gap by providing and is providing a solution that is mobile, resilient and fully functional. The company also provides marine management services to ensure its clients get the most out of its products.
Demand for Workfloat’s products is strong with the company recently supporting prestigious projects including maintenance for Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, Network Rail bridges, Highways England assets and the Environment Agency.
Toby Budd, chief executive and founder of ScaffFloat / WorkFloat, said: “Over the past three years we have worked hard to create a cost-effective, transportable work platform to overcome the issues with the current market offering.
“Our products are gaining traction across the UK and overseas and this funding will allow us to maximise the opportunities available to us, continuing to grow our business globally whilst maintaining our roots firmly in the South West.
“Having CIOSIF on board as an investor, with the added benefit of the FSE team’s corporate finance and governance experience, will be extremely beneficial in scaling and professionalising our operation.”
Ralph Singleton, head of funds Cornwall at The FSE Group, said: “Workfloat has a credible management team led by Toby whose experience in the marine sector, as well as in successfully building and exiting a portfolio of small businesses, places the business in a strong position for growth.
“The business is well-supported by credible private investors who understand the commercial marine space and the team continues to develop innovative, award-winning products to address a known gap in a niche market.”
Toby Budd, chief executive and founder of ScaffFloat / WorkFloat, said: “Over the past three years we have worked hard to create a cost-effective, transportable work platform to overcome the issues with the current market offering.
“Our products are gaining traction across the UK and overseas and this funding will allow us to maximise the opportunities available to us, continuing to grow our business globally whilst maintaining our roots firmly in the South West.
“Having CIOSIF on board as an investor, with the added benefit of the FSE team’s corporate finance and governance experience, will be extremely beneficial in scaling and professionalising our operation.”
Ralph Singleton, head of funds Cornwall at The FSE Group, said: “Workfloat has a credible management team led by Toby whose experience in the marine sector, as well as in successfully building and exiting a portfolio of small businesses, places the business in a strong position for growth.
“The business is well-supported by credible private investors who understand the commercial marine space and the team continues to develop innovative, award-winning products to address a known gap in a niche market.”
UK Scaffolders acquire first LIFTBOT robotic scaffolding hoists
KEWAZO, the manufacturer of LIFTBOT robotic scaffolding hoists powered by Data Analytics, has delivered its first robots to leading industrial service providers Altrad UK and Bilfinger UK.
After successful UK pilot projects with LIFTBOT the robotic material hoist in September 2021, Bilfinger UK and Altrad UK acquired their first systems in January 2022. The robots are now in constant deployment at the UK’s largest petrochemical refinery.
The CE-certified robotic scaffolding hoist LIFTBOT was introduced into the industry in 2021. It has been used since then by various scaffolding companies and key industrial service providers, including the German market-leader Bilfinger arnholdt.
According to KEWAZO, more than 80% of scaffolding projects are still built completely manually. Traditionally, the material is man-chained up from the ground to the assembly level. This approach is labour-intensive, unsafe, and unergonomic, the firm said.
By automating vertical material transport, LIFTBOT helps to increase assembly efficiency on average by 44%, and all this while enhancing safety. LIFTBOT’s rotating transportation platform enables unloading of scaffolding material in an ergonomic position inside the scaffolding while keeping guardrails in place.
KEWAZO engineers have already trained both Altrad UK and Bilfinger UK scaffolders on how to use their LIFTBOTs. This recently enabled Bilfinger UK to use their system to erect scaffolding around 40-meter-high on some reactors.
The 8-week project would have typically required at least eight scaffolders, whereas working with LIFTBOT reduced this number to only three.
LIFTBOT integrates sensors that ensure safe operation and collects data crucial to processes such as transported weight, current scaffolding height, and efficiency. This data can be accessed on any browser or a smartphone via the Data Analytics web-platform KEWAZO ONSITE.
This creates transparency of on-site operations, enabling a more proactive data-driven management not only of individual projects but also of companies overall. Automated update-notifications via email, SMS, or WhatsApp detailing the project-progress promotes this theme even further. Thus, foremen, construction managers, or other stakeholders can keep track of set targets effortlessly.
Alongside Germany and Benelux, KEWAZO considers the UK as one of the key markets and has consequently established a robust support-infrastructure that enables a reliable customer service in terms of maintenance, training, and assistance.
“This kind of innovation within the Access industry is long overdue and it is great to be leading the way by bringing it to our valued UK Clients.”Alex Curry, Bilfinger UK’s Executive Director On-shore MMO, said: “Bilfinger have worked with KEWAZO since 2019 to help develop the LIFTBOT robotic scaffold hoist, so it is great for us to have one in the UK and it’s already delivering real productivity and safety improvements on a Major Project at the UK’s largest Refinery. Within 24 hours of arrival in the country, the LIFTBOT was quickly assembled, Bilfinger scaffolders were trained, and they had safely lifted over 1300kg of scaffold materials in just 6 hours! This kind of innovation within the Access industry is long overdue and it is great to be leading the way by bringing it to our valued UK Clients.” According to KEWAZO, one of the main advantages of LIFTBOT is its fast and easy mobilization. Its use of batteries instead of cables, compact size, and 20-minute installation without the need for additional scaffolding anchoring – all enable LIFTBOT to be deployed on jobs where scaffolding would otherwise be built completely manually and to much physical strain. Another asset of LIFTBOT is the introduction of high-tech innovation into the scaffolding industry. Scaffolding is often seen as a commodity and most customers make their decision based on cost. Deploying the latest innovation in the industry can help scaffolding contractors to stand out. Altrad UK and Bilfinger UK now have this competitive advantage at hand, allowing them to strengthen their market-position even further.
“Altrad has improved safety by eliminating risk and has enhanced the wellbeing of its people.”Colin Murphy, Head of Technical Authorities, Altrad UK, Ireland, and Nordics, added: “Altrad are characterised by curiosity, a trait that helps them find solutions to the most complex of challenges. They work collaboratively with their clients to always find a better way, and never stop asking ‘what if?’. By using a LIFTBOT to support the construction of larger access structures, Altrad has improved safety by eliminating risk and has enhanced the wellbeing of its people by reducing manual handling activities, whilst also increasing productivity.”
LIFTBOT integrates sensors that ensure safe operation and collects data crucial to processes such as transported weight, current scaffolding height, and efficiency. This data can be accessed on any browser or a smartphone via the Data Analytics web-platform KEWAZO ONSITE.
This creates transparency of on-site operations, enabling a more proactive data-driven management not only of individual projects but also of companies overall. Automated update-notifications via email, SMS, or WhatsApp detailing the project-progress promotes this theme even further. Thus, foremen, construction managers, or other stakeholders can keep track of set targets effortlessly.
Alongside Germany and Benelux, KEWAZO considers the UK as one of the key markets and has consequently established a robust support-infrastructure that enables a reliable customer service in terms of maintenance, training, and assistance.
Vital text service launches to provide wellbeing support
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has added another route to vital wellbeing support by launching their text HARDHAT to 85258 service to provide immediate support to the construction community.
This latest addition to the charity’s extensive portfolio of support services launched on 1st February and underpins their mission that no construction worker or their family should be alone in a crisis.
The text HARDHAT to 85258 service will complement their existing 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline and Helpline App and offers immediate support to those who feel more comfortable texting with someone rather than holding a one to one telephone conversation.
Just like the charity’s helpline, the text HARDHAT to 85258 service is available at any time of the day or night and offers free, anonymous and confidential support to anyone in the industry who is feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, suicidal or simply struggling with everyday life.
Individuals can access support simply by texting the word HARDHAT to 85258. This will put them in touch with trained volunteers who will ask for a little more information about what the problem is, with the individual sharing what they feel comfortable with.
The volunteers listen without judgement and can provide support and guidance on a huge variety of issues including; feeling anxious, relationship problems, loneliness and isolation, abuse, addiction, depression, bullying and harassment, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and feelings.
The text conversation will only finish when the volunteer has helped the person to reach a calm and safe place. They will also be able to provide a plan so that users can understand how to help themselves going forward and signpost to further resources or tools to provide more expert support.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said, “Our new text HARDHAT to 85258 service comes at a time when many are still struggling on a daily basis with debt, anxiety and family issues. Some things are returning to normality but there are still far-reaching consequences and underlying problems that remain as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.
These pressures are in addition to the normal stresses and strains of working in an industry where two workers take their own life every single working day and a fifth of all work-related illness is due to stress, anxiety or depression.
Last year our charity supported 2788 families, an increase of 23% on the previous year and we delivered £1,077,015 of charitable giving to our construction community. This support ranged from making sure there was a meal on the table for families and paying household bills, helping with debt and financial issues, and providing quick access to professional counselling sessions.
We know that there are many people who feel embarrassed or unable to reach out for help by calling someone. Introducing our text HARDHAT to 85258 service is yet another route to access support before situations escalate out of control.
We cannot stress enough that it really doesn’t matter how small or large you think your problem is, there is always support available and we can provide that help through the channels that people feel most comfortable with. That could be by using our free Construction Industry Helpline App, calling our 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline and talking to someone and now we have our text HARDHAT to 85258 service.”
If you need help or support now, or know someone that does, you can call the charity’s 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline on UK 0345 605 1956, ROI 1800 939 122, visit www.lighthouseclub.org or text HARDHAT to 85258.
Industry workers call for 10% pay rise
Unions, led by Unite are calling on the Construction Industry Joint Council (CIJC) for a 10% pay increase in a bid to redress pay cuts and the rise in the cost of living faced by its members.
The union argues that with a construction output of £110 billion per annum, employers can easily afford to reward workers with wages that keep pace with living costs.
Unite has warned that unless the industry begins offering decent wages it will result in the continuing failure to attract new starters.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Construction workers are highly skilled and are essential to the UK’s future prosperity. But they are fed up with years of wage attacks. So with growth across the sector now forecast, we’re simply asking that our members get their fair share of rewards.
“This pay claim reflects the urgent need to restore this workforce’s pay to at least a level that matches inflation, and we will not accept anything less. Unite is the union which always puts the jobs, pay and conditions of its members first and the union will be taking radical measures to ensure that construction workers secure a fair pay rise.”
The CIJC is the largest agreement in the construction sector and governs the pay and conditions of in the region of 500,000 workers (principally those in civil engineering and the biblical trades).
The union side is seeking a uniform pay increase which will see all workers covered by the agreement, from craft workers to labourers, see their pay rise by the same percentage.
Sick pay increase
In addition, the unions are seeking a considerable increase in industry sick pay and holiday entitlement to bring the CIJC in line with other construction agreements.
The pay claim comes at a time when the construction industry is experiencing a severe and worsening skills shortage, a result of the failure to train new entrants. Poor CIJC pay rates makes a career in the industry unattractive to new starters.
Unite national officer for construction Jerry Swain said: “For this industry to succeed and attract new entrants then pay rates must reflect workers’ skills and living costs.
Scaffolder seriously injured in temporary-roof fall
A scaffolding contractor has been sentenced after a scaffolder fell from height while dismantling a temporary roof scaffold resulting in serious injuries.
Brighton Magistrates Court heard how, on 15 August 2019, Darren Barnett was dismantling a temporary-roof scaffold at a site in Hailsham, East Sussex, when he fell through the scaffolding landing on to the roof of the property below, before rolling down and on to the ground.
Mr Barnett fell approximately eight meters in total and sustained two brain haemorrhages, six vertebra fractures, a fractured shoulder blade and multiple rib fractures.
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found the company had failed to properly plan the works in respect of giving consideration to how the temporary roof should be dismantled safely.
Furthermore, Mr Barnett was only provided with a single lanyard harness that was not suitable for such works, rather than a twin lanyard harness.
Zendrill Ltd based in Gillingham, Kent pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety Regulations and the Work at Height Regulations 2005. The company was fined £16,667 and ordered to pay costs of £6,767 and a victim surcharge of £170.
Speaking after the hearing, HSE inspector Ross Carter said: “The case highlights the importance of following industry guidance in order to design and dismantle scaffolding in a safe manner with the correct equipment made available to those undertaking the work.
“If a suitable safe system of work had been in place prior to the incident, the life changing injuries sustained by Mr Barnett would have been prevented.”
Brogan Group celebrate 1.5M hours accident free
The Brogan Group has achieved more than 1.5 million continuous hours accident-free across its powered access and scaffolding divisions, equivalent to 17 people’s entire working lifetimes.
FIVE HUNDRED Brogan site workers across the UK, Ireland and the Middle East, worked through the entirety of 2021 without a reportable incident, in an industry sector that is statistically four times as dangerous as the average workplace.
Brogan Group is an international group of access companies headquartered in the UK with offices in Ireland, Saudi Arabia & the UAE.
“This is the fourth time in the last decade that Brogan has completed an entire calendar year without a reportable incident. 2021 joins 2011, 2015 and 2016 in our record books,” says James Lewis, Group HSQE Director.
50% of the fatal incidents in the UK construction industry as a whole are from falls at height but Brogan Group, who largely work at height, have thankfully had no fatalities.
The firm’s All Accident Incidence Rate is on average 3x lower than the Industry NASC Scaffolding incident average.
James added: “These exceptional levels reflect our best practices and reinforce our ultimate aim of ensuring that our workforce is kept safe whilst working on our behalf and that they return home safely each day. We are keen to continue on such a positive note with the support of all of our workforce.”
IDH Launches new housing design division
Scaffolding design company Independent Design House (IDH), is branching out into Housing Design with a “one-stop-shop” division.
The engineering design consultancy based in the UK, Middle East, and Poland, is following a prosperous 2021 with the launch of the new division: IDH Housing Design.
The firm which is based in the UK, Middle East, and Poland is offering, an end-to-end consultancy for all housing design requirements.
It will be led by newly appointed associate director, Martin Czerniuk, a volume housing design expert based in their new IDH Northampton office.
Czerniuk brings a wealth of residential expertise to the role, with a 35-year career in volume home building, having worked for major housebuilders including Taylor Wimpey and Bovis.
The business says IDH Housing Design will be a multi-disciplinary offering, starting with pre-construction, and covering the entire process. Services include providing site layout design for land viability; through formal planning; technical; procurement and production enabling stages to final sales, working with volume housebuilders and developers.
The move comes at a time when demand for houses has hit an all-time high, according to January 2022 figures from Rightmove.
Ian Fernandes-Johnson, managing director of IDH, comments: “No one can deny the last two years have been challenging in construction, but we’ve started the year positively and are incredibly excited to launch IDH Housing Design.
“We’ve been increasingly involved in permanent works and, having supported on residential projects in 2021, this is a natural next step. The team are ready to support Martin as he builds the division, and we will fully benefit from his in-depth knowledge of volume housing design. With further expansion on the cards, 2022 has started well.”
Czerniuk adds; “I am so pleased to join Independent Design House and head up IDH Housing Design from my Northampton office. With considerable resources and my own experience with key housebuilding companies of some 35 years, we’ve got a great base to build from and are already discussing our first projects.
“IDH’s established and expanding multi-disciplinary consultancy is already a market leader in structural and civil engineering design and we aim to become the one-stop-shop consultancy for all housing design.”
Lee Marley opens new London HQ
One of the UK’s leading integrated brickwork, scaffolding and stone sub-contractors, Lee Marley Brickwork has opened its new London HQ.
The new headquarters located in Notting Hill, London will operate as the ideal professional space for visiting clients, suppliers, training environment for graduates, and as a head office for key staff.
The 3500 square foot premises offer a modern, personable environment with ample space for visiting clients and suppliers to meet with their team and where any problems can be dealt with quickly and efficiently, face to face.
With offices already in Reading, Edinburgh, Leeds, and Nottingham, the business continues to grow nationally and over the last five years has tripled in size.
Director Lee Marley said: “With much of the company’s business based in London and the Southeast, Notting Hill is an ideal location not just for managers and graduates, but also for visiting customers and suppliers.
We’ve created a professional base and the response from clients so far has been glowing. I am also proud that we are an accredited Investors in People business and firmly believe in the ethos of putting our staff first. I want all of our workforce to believe in a future with Lee Marley and the opening of our new graduate hub is a part of that investment in our team.”
Michael Tame MRICS, Commercial Director at Lee Marley Brickwork added: “As we see natural growth within our business operation it was important to us to create an environment that allows our employees to achieve their full potential. A key passion of ours is our Graduate and Apprenticeship Schemes which promote young talent.
The opening of our Notting Hill office will promote a friendly hub for our graduates to base themselves from. The office provides collaborative workspaces, offices and a large boardroom with state-of-the-art conference and presentation software, ideal for online and in-person training.
Our clients are key to the strength of our business, and it is our intention to use this new workspace to invite our clients to and display some of our work, of which we are extremely proud of. We are excited to enter 2022 in such a fortunate position.”
Michael Tame MRICS, Commercial Director at Lee Marley Brickwork added: “As we see natural growth within our business operation it was important to us to create an environment that allows our employees to achieve their full potential. A key passion of ours is our Graduate and Apprenticeship Schemes which promote young talent.
The opening of our Notting Hill office will promote a friendly hub for our graduates to base themselves from. The office provides collaborative workspaces, offices and a large boardroom with state-of-the-art conference and presentation software, ideal for online and in-person training.
Our clients are key to the strength of our business, and it is our intention to use this new workspace to invite our clients to and display some of our work, of which we are extremely proud of. We are excited to enter 2022 in such a fortunate position.”
Actavo secures build contract with one of the UK’s largest telecoms operators
Actavo has successfully secured its first build contract with rural broadband provider Gigaclear.
Gigaclear is currently building one of the UK’s largest full-fibre networks that include connecting 7,000 premises to Gigaclear’s Fibre-To-The-Premises (FTTP) network in the Buckingham region.
In December 2021, the team completed a turnkey Survey and Design on a hybrid physical infrastructure access (PIA) solution in Buckingham, including cabinet deployment.
The first premises will be ready for service in March 2022, and full completion is scheduled for early 2023.
This is part of the overall five-year contract that Actavo secured with Gigaclear in 2021 as its primary provider of network builds across the South Central region of England.
As part of the contract, Actavo Network & In-Home Division will create a workforce of over 100 across its supply chain, including Network Designers, Engineers and Management, to provide a full-fibre network build across residential and commercial properties.
Mo Saleh, Head of Telecoms, Actavo Network & In-Home Solutions UK said: “This is a significant milestone award for Actavo. We are delighted to partner with Gigaclear as its Primary provider of network builds in this region, and we look forward to bringing ultrafast broadband to the people and businesses of the South Central region of England over the coming months. Securing this contract is a testament to the quality of work and reliable service provided by our team.”
Gigaclear plans to expand its network coverage from its traditional rural heartland into the UK’s market towns bringing ultrafast broadband to underserved areas and cement its place as the fourth largest network in the UK.
Gigaclear was founded in 2010 to provide full fibre connectivity to some of the most underserved communities in the country, where existing internet speeds can be as slow as 1Mbps. Over the last ten years it has connected communities across 22 different counties to its network.
Actavo has significant experience in the UK, United States, the Caribbean and throughout Ireland in the delivery of fibre network builds.
The company’s experience includes the National Broadband Plan, Virgin Fibre Network UK, network builds in Ireland for SIRO and Virgin Media and the delivery of the Digicel fibre network across the Caribbean.
Actavo Network & In-Home Solutions delivers a co-branded solution with all vehicles, Service Engineer uniforms, identification cards and documentation carrying both the Actavo and Gigaclear brands
TR Scaffolding and UKSSH hit the gold standard
The refurbishment of two bridges over the M5 in the “Golden Valleys” area of Gloucestershire gave TR Scaffolding of Bristol and UKSSH the perfect opportunity to demonstrate how Haki Systems deliver the gold standard when it comes to suspended scaffolding.
Faced with the challenge of enabling demolition work to be carried out over a live motorway, TR Scaffolding’s MD Stuart Salmon knew the perfect solution – and also knew the perfect partner – to help them deliver on time and on budget.
Together TR Scaffolding and UKSSH delivered a truly innovative approach, providing a sealed working scaffold into the bridge using only Haki Universal, Hakitec 750 beams and roofing materials which enabled hydro demolition activities to be carried out during the day over a live motorway – thus saving considerable time and money for TR Scaffolding’s client.
A few hundred years ago Stroud’s wool industry created so much wealth that the five valleys that fed the town with water for its mills became known as the Golden Valleys.
Nowadays motorists on the M5 that cuts through the area are more concerned with avoiding traffic disruption than the origin of place names – so when Highways England needed to undertake essential repairs on two bridges over the motorway the primary requirement was to scaffold them and undertake the hydro demolition work with the minimum impact on the motorway.
Stuart explains his choice of Haki and UKSSH: “We find that Haki Universal is the only scaffold system which allows the flexibility of using scaffold boards or proprietary decking. The other ingredient that added to the success of the project was the level of collaboration between TR Scaffolding and UKSSH.
The companies worked together before the possession to undertake trial erections both at TR Scaffolding’s depot and onsite at Golden Valley to ensure that the actual build would go as smoothly as possible and the companies also liaised closely to ensure that deliveries to site would optimise possession times.”
Haki 750 Beams and Haki Systems are unbeatable for suspended scaffold: The large (3.05m x 3.05m) grid both means fewer suspension points and contributes to Haki Systems requiring up to 50% fewer components compared to other systems. This in turn means a 50% weight saving – significantly reducing the loads into the bridge, while the Haki erection method provides full collective measures for fast and safe installation.
While the Cotswolds may be renowned for their rich history and natural beauty, anyone who knows their scaffolding and saw TR Scaffoldings handiwork above the M5 will appreciate that, in its own way, even suspended scaffold can hit the gold standard.
